If you have a question, send it to askba@baseballamerica.com. Please include your full name and hometown if you'd like your letter to be considered for use in an upcoming column. Also, please understand that we can't respond to every question.

In the Oct. 25 Ask BA, I discussed the flaws in the free-agent compensation process. I suggested some remedies, such as reducing compensation for relievers (who are overvalued by the statistical rating system MLB uses) and eliminating it all together for Type B free agents (those who rank in the 21-40 percent group at their position).

From what we're hearing, both of those changes may be part of the new collective bargaining agreement, the details of which should be revealed tomorrow. Once we learn exactly what we're dealing with, I'll update the list of potential compensation free agents. Be sure to check out BaseballAmerica.com, as we'll break down exactly how the CBA changes will affect the draft and player development.

We have less than a month before we send the 2012 Prospect Handbook to the printer, so Ask BA is going into its annual winter hibernation. I'll do one more Ask BA between now and Christmas, most likely on the Monday after the Winter Meetings conclude, which would be Dec. 12. Please keep the questions coming.

First-round picks sometimes pass on signing and choose a different route. Most of these players re-enter the draft and sign down the road. What has been the success rate of unsigned first-round picks, and is it any better or worse than the rate for those who sign?

Michael Dominguez
Whitby, Ont.

There have been 48 players who didn't sign after getting selected in the first round of the June draft. Here's the complete list:

Year

Player, Pos.

Pick, Team

Signed

1965

Eddie Leon, ss

No. 9, Twins

2nd round, Indians, 1967 (June sec.)

1965

Mike Adamson, rhp

No. 18, Phillies

No. 1, Orioles, 1967 (June sec.)

1966

John Curtis, lhp

No. 12, Indians

No. 10, Red Sox, 1968 (June sec.)

1966

Rick Konik, 1b

No. 14, Tigers

never signed pro contract

1968

Pete Broberg, rhp

No. 2, Athletics

No. 1, Senators, 1971 (June sec.)

1969

Alan Bannister, ss

No. 5, Angels

No. 1, Phillies, 1973 (January)

1969

John Simmons, ss/rhp

No. 23, Royals

never signed pro contract

1970

Randy Scarbery, rhp

No. 7, Astros

No. 23, Athletics, 1973

1970

Jimmy Hacker, 3b

No. 16, Red Sox

5th round, Braves, 1974

1970

George Ambrow, ss

No. 23, Mets

never signed pro contract

1971

Danny Goodwin, c

No. 1, White Sox

No. 1, Angels, 1975

1971

Condredge Holloway, ss

No. 4, Expos

never signed pro contract

1971

Mike Miley, ss

No. 24, Reds

No. 10, Angels, 1974

1972

Dick Ruthven, rhp

No. 8, Twins

No. 1, Phillies, 1973 (January sec.)

1974

Jerry Johnson, c

No. 22, Athletics

No. 11, Cardinals, 1975 (January sec.)

1976

Bill Bordley, lhp

No. 4, Brewers

free agent, Giants, 1979

1976

Jamie Allen, 3b/rhp

No. 10, Twins

2nd round, Mariners, 1979

1976

Mike Sullivan, rhp

No. 24, Athletics

No. 22, Reds, 1979

1979

Juan Bustabad, ss

No. 5, Athletics

No. 1, Red Sox, 1980 (January sec.)

1979

Steve Buechele, ss

No. 9, White Sox

5th round, Rangers, 1982

1979

Rick Luecken, rhp

No. 18, Giants

27th round, Mariners, 1983

1979

Mike Stenhouse, of

No. 26, Athletics

No. 4, Expos, 1980 (January sec.)

1983

Tim Belcher, rhp

No. 1, Twins

No. 1, Yankees, 1984 (January sec.)

1986

Greg McMurtry, of

No. 14, Red Sox

never signed pro contract

1987

Brad DuVall, rhp

No. 15, Orioles

No. 23, Cardinals, 1988

1988

Alex Fernandez, rhp

No. 24, Brewers

No. 4, White Sox, 1990

1989

Charles Johnson, c

No. 10, Expos

No. 28, Marlins, 1992

1989

Calvin Murray, of

No. 11, Indians

No. 7, Giants, 1992

1989

Scott Burrell, of

No. 26, Mariners

5th round, Blue Jays, 1990

1991

Kenny Henderson, rhp

No. 5, Brewers

5th round, Padres, 1995

1991

John Burke, rhp

No. 6, Astros

No. 27, Rockies, 1992

1993

Jason Varitek, c

No. 21, Twins

No. 14, Mariners, 1994

1995

Chad Hutchinson, rhp

No. 26, Braves

2nd round, Cardinals, 1998

1997

J.D. Drew, of

No. 2, Phillies

No. 5, Cardinals, 1998

1997

Tyrell Godwin, of

No. 24, Yankees

3rd round, Blue Jays, 2001

2000

Matt Harrington, rhp

No. 7, Rockies

free agent, Cubs, 2006

2001

Jeremy Sowers, lhp

No. 20, Reds

No. 6, Indians, 2004

2001

Alan Horne, rhp

No. 27, Indians

11th round, Yankees, 2005

2002

John Mayberry Jr., of

No. 28, Mariners

No. 19, Rangers, 2005

2004

Wade Townsend, rhp

No. 8, Orioles

No. 8, Devil Rays, 2005

2008

Aaron Crow, rhp

No. 9, Nationals

No. 12, Royals, 2009

2008

Gerrit Cole, rhp

No. 28, Yankees

No. 1, Pirates, 2011

2009

Matt Purke, lhp

No. 14, Rangers

3rd round, Nationals, 2011

2009

LeVon Washington, of

No. 30, Rays

2nd round, Indians, 2010

2010

Barret Loux, rhp

No. 6, Diamondbacks

free agent, Rangers, 2010

2010

Karsten Whitson, rhp

No. 9, Padres

eligible again in 2013

2010

Dylan Covey, rhp

No. 14, Brewers

eligible again in 2013

2011

Tyler Beede, rhp

No. 21, Blue Jays

eligible again in 2014

The general rule of thumb is that one-third of first-rounders become successful big leaguers, one-third make it to the majors but aren't significant players and one-third fall short. The unsigned first-rounders haven't lived up to that standard.

Excluding the last seven players on the above list because they've barely begun their pro careers or have yet to re-enter the draft, 26 of the 41 unsigned first-rounders have reached the majors. But only five have been all-stars (Crow, Drew, Johnson, Ruthven, Varitek), which matches the number who never signed a pro contract (Ambrow, Holloway, Konik, McMurtry, Simmons). There have been nearly as many unsigned first-rounders who played professionally in other sports: Burrell in the NBA, Holloway in the Canadian Football League and Hutchinson and McMurtry in the NFL.

Sixteen of the players became June first-rounders again, including Cole, the No. 1 overall pick in 2011. Nine more went in the first round of different phases of the draft, as MLB held multiple drafts annually until consolidating into one draft in 1987. All five of the all-stars were redrafted in the first round, including Ruthven, the top choice in the secondary phase of the 1973 January draft.

On your Twitter feed, you mentioned that you had done some research for a column that showed the Cardinals led all clubs with 24 big leaguers from the 2005-07 drafts. Can we please see the team-by-team totals?

Nate White
Kansas City, Mo.

So far, 375 players have reached the big leagues after signing out of the 2005-07 drafts. That works out to an average of 12.5 team, with totals ranging from the Cardinals (24) on the high end to the Astros (four on the low end). Here's how many major leaguers each club signed, along with their most productive player to date:

Team

No.

Most Productive Big Leaguer

Cardinals

24

Colby Rasmus (No. 28, 2005)

Padres

22

Chase Headley (2nd round, 2005)

Marlins

21

Mike Stanton (2nd round, 2007)

Tigers

18

Matt Joyce (12th round, 2005)

Diamondbacks

17

Justin Upton (No. 1, 2005)

Reds

17

Jay Bruce (No. 12, 2005)

Yankees

17

Brett Gardner (3rd round, 2005)

Giants

14

Tim Lincecum (No. 10, 2006)

Rangers

14

Tommy Hunter (supp. 1st round, 2007)

Red Sox

14

Jacoby Ellsbury (No. 23, 2005)

Brewers

13

Ryan Braun (No. 5, 2005)

Mets

13

Mike Pelfrey (No. 9, 2005)

Twins

13

Matt Garza (No. 25, 2005)

Angels

12

Peter Bourjos (10th round, 2005)

Athletics

12

Trevor Cahill (2nd round, 2006)

Orioles

12

Matt Wieters (No. 5, 2007)

Blue Jays

11

Ricky Romero (No. 6, 2005)

Braves

11

Yunel Escobar (2nd round, 2005)

Mariners

11

Doug Fister (7th round, 2006)

Phillies

11

Josh Outman (10th round, 2005)

Indians

10

Josh Tomlin (19th round, 2006)

Nationals

10

Ryan Zimmerman (No. 4, 2005)

White Sox

10

Clayton Richard (8th round, 2005)

Pirates

9

Andrew McCutchen (No. 11, 2005)

Cubs

8

Darwin Barney (4th round, 2007)

Royals

8

Alex Gordon (No. 2, 2005)

Rays

7

Evan Longoria (No. 3, 2006)

Dodgers

6

Clayton Kershaw (No. 6, 2006)

Rockies

6

Troy Tulowitzki (No. 7, 2005)

Astros

4

Bud Norris (6th round, 2006)

Of course, quantity is not the same as quality. The Rays rank just 27th with seven big leaguers, but they might have the best 2005-07 draft crop when all is said and done, thanks to Longoria, David Price and Matt Moore. The Dodgers and Rockies are tied for next to last with sixth, but there would be more than a few teams that would offer up their entire 2005-07 drafts for Kershaw or Tulowitzki.

The draft-and-follow process referred to players who were drafted but chose to attend junior college rather than turn pro. Teams still controlled the rights to those players the following spring, and were able to sign them between the end of their juco season and one week before the next draft.

The rule existed from 1987, when baseball eliminated the January draft and went to one draft, through 2006. It was eliminated when MLB negotiated an Aug. 15 signing deadline in the subsequent collective bargaining agreement.

The process allowed teams to selected raw players and watch them develop for another year before having to place a value on them. The Astros took Oswalt in the 23rd round after his freshman year at Holmes (Miss.) CC in 1996, then signed him for $475,000 the following spring. If they hadn't, he might have been a first-round pick in the 1997 draft.